The Application is an English-translation of the International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2011/052154 filed on Feb. 14, 2011 to which priority is claimed and priority is also claimed to German Application No. 20 2010 000 209.5 filed on Feb. 16, 2010, the content of which Applications are incorporated by reference herein.
The present disclosure relates to a domestic appliance configured to be fitted into a furniture body, for example, a refrigerator. The domestic appliance includes a front furniture panel disposed on a front face of a domestic appliance door and includes a pivot joint. The front furniture panel is connected to the front face of the domestic appliance door. A damping device is located between and operatively connected to the domestic appliance door and the front furniture panel. The domestic appliance door is configured as a sliding door which moves relative to the front furniture panel during an opening and closing movement of the domestic appliance door and the front furniture panel.
It is known from the prior art to cover such built-in domestic appliances, for example, built-in refrigerators which are built into furniture, with an additional front furniture panel. The front furniture panel is, for example, fixed directly to the refrigerator door so that the refrigerator door can be opened and closed together with the front furniture panel. Another possibility for fixing consists of fitting each of the domestic appliance door and the front furniture panel with a pivot joint in the sense of a so-called sliding door system. The opening and closing of the domestic appliance door is therefore accomplished via two different axes of rotation. The domestic appliance door moves as a sliding door relative to the front furniture panel during the opening and closing.
A disadvantage in the known prior art is that with the closing movement of the domestic appliance door and the front furniture panel, the domestic appliance door is pressed against the frame of the domestic appliance with great force depending on the force applied by the user and this can result in an undesirable development of noise. Embodiments of the present disclosure provide for a domestic appliance configured to be fitted into a furniture body, which embodiments are an improvement in the movement sequence that is brought about during the movement of the domestic appliance door and the front furniture panel.
The improvements include a domestic appliance, such as a refrigerator, configured to be fitted into a furniture body. The furniture body includes a front furniture panel disposed on a front face of a domestic appliance door and includes a pivot joint. The front furniture panel is connected to the front face of the domestic appliance door. A damping device is located between and operatively connected to the domestic appliance door and the front furniture panel. The domestic appliance door is configured as a sliding door which moves relative to the front furniture panel during an opening and closing movement of the domestic appliance door and the front furniture panel. The damping device is configured as a self-retracting device that pulls the domestic appliance door into a closed position via a damped movement using the relative movement of the domestic appliance door and the front furniture panel with respect to each other.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a damping device is provided between the domestic appliance door and the front furniture panel, which damping device is operatively connected to the domestic appliance door and the front furniture panel. The damping device, thus disposed, effectively uses the relative movement of domestic appliance door and front furniture panel with respect to one another for a damping of the closing movement of the domestic appliance door and the front furniture panel.
Further embodiments of the present disclosure are discussed below.
According to other embodiments of the present disclosure, the damping device is configured, for example, as a damping cylinder or as a spring element. In a comparatively simple and inexpensive construction, the damping cylinder is pressed into a stop shortly before reaching the closed position, with the result that the remaining movement into the closed position is damped.
According to one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the damping device is configured as an auxiliary retraction device. This self-retracting device includes, for example, a damper, an entrainer guided in a walking stick curve, a tension spring and an activator. The self-retraction device may be disposed in a recess in the front side of the domestic appliance door. The damper, the entrainer and the tension spring are accommodated in a housing and the activator is disposed on the side of the front furniture panel facing the domestic appliance door, where the entrainer can be moved by the activator against the damping force of the damper into a closed position during a relative movement of the domestic appliance door with respect to the front furniture panel during the closing movement of the domestic appliance door and the front furniture panel.
By using such a self-retraction device as a damping device, the domestic appliance door is additionally pulled into its closed position in a damped movement, in accordance with the present disclosure.
According to a further embodiment of the present disclosure, the damping device is disposed transversely to the relative movement in order to be able to absorb the forces of the relative movement as far as the closed position. This is done with a suitable mechanism such as, for example, two contacting skew planes.
According to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the damping device is configured as a radial damper in order to be able to absorb and damp the linear relative movement between domestic appliance door and the front furniture panel. The radial damper can, for example, be embedded in the domestic appliance door or the front furniture panel and be provided with a gear wheel, where the gear wheel engages with a rack on the opposite front furniture panel or domestic appliance door for damping.
Embodiments of the present disclosure are also discussed in the appended claims.
Other aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following descriptions when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.